Friday, December 18, 2015

Greetings, commies and social justice warriors!Today's guest is a fellow Penmore Books author, Patrick Gabridge - a playwright and novelist. I have to admit, it took me a long time to muster the audacity to write this post. Every time I try to engage in a conversation about race, let's just say, they don't end well. At any rate, this post is not about me. It's about my guest of honor, Mr. Gabridge, and his hero Robert Smalls, an African-American hero who crafts a daring plan to steal the steamship Planter and deliver it, along with crew and their families, to Union blockade. ______________________

My thoughts:

Patrick
Gabridge's Steering to Freedomis an
absolute must-read for all history majors focusing on American Civil War.
This novel is an authentic account of one man's rise to heroism and assumption
of a task that's nothing short of apostolic. It's also a must-read for anyone
contemplating getting involved in social activism around the delicate and
volatile issue of interracial relations. I find that many well-meaning
individuals lack that background knowledge and have a rather cartoon-like
two-dimensional understanding of history and the racial factor. The nature of
the interracial conflict constantly changes. Racism is like cancer. You
think you've got the right diagnosis, and you start a chemo protocol, and you
think you're making progress towards victory, and then realize that the
malignant cells have mutated and become resistant to the drug, and now you need
to find a new protocol. The remedy that was relevant 50 years ago is not relevant
today. You have to reevaluate the nature of the disease and come up with new
treatment.

Incidentally, I know that the author has a deeply personal interest in African
American heritage and advocacy for that particular group. Perhaps, I should
warn my mixed audience that I'm coming from the "I'm color-blind" and
"all lives matter" camp. (Yes, I know I'm taking risks of being
crucified as a callous, ignorant, privileged republican middle-class white
woman for saying that). Robert Smalls is not a "black hero". He's a
hero, period. Who happens to be black. His wife Hannah, the mother of his
children, whose love serves as a catalyst to Robert's daring actions, is not a
"strong black woman", as some readers might be tempted to label
her. She is just a woman, a mother, whose physical and emotional
resilience are result of fight for survival. As I was reading Steering to Freedom, the color of
Robert's skin was not constantly on my mind. I don't know if that was the
intention of the author.

Gabridge's creative activities go beyond writing fiction. He is also
a playwright, and his talent for dramatic dialogue is very apparent. I would
love to see him adapt his own work to stage. His protagonist is an icon
of courage and self-sacrifice, and a role model for all men - regardless of the
color of their skin.

Wednesday, December 16, 2015

Today I am pleased to share a review of a novel by a much esteemed fellow author Mary Donnarumma Sharnick. I have read her two previous novels set in the Venetian lagoon. This time around the author sets her novel in "misspelled town" of St. Suplice, Louisiana. I admit that I do not read a lot of fiction set in the American South, but after reading Orla's Canvas I think I am going to explore that branch of literature further. It's interesting that the author herself is not from the south. She's actually a native of Connecticut. The fact that she was able to recreate the authentic southern ambiance testifies to her talent.

________________________________________________

Imagine elements of Mark Twain, William
Faulkner and Flannery O'Connor distilled and harmoniously concocted in a highly
literary and authentic modern masterpiece. Orla's Canvas is a novel that
looks like a painting and tastes like a Southern feast with Irish, French and
African flavors mixing together. The protagonist Orla Gleason is a
painstakingly observant yet refreshingly non-judgmental prepubescent Southern
girl of Irish extraction who is trying to find her voice in the volatile
political climate of 1960s. Nothing escapes her senses, no smell, sight or sound. She's
almost a creature without skin, hyper in tune with the elements. Some people's
nervous systems are wired like that. They pick up on subtlest of stimuli that
go over most people's heads. Orla can tell you the flavor of every ice-cream
cone she's had, the texture of the floorboards, the temperature of the water in
the river on any given day. Paired with photographic memory, such intense
sensitivity can lead to mental instability - unless the person is given an
outlet for channeling those sensory impressions. For Orla Gleason it becomes
art. I would not hesitate to call her a 20th century female Huck Finn.

Mary Sharnick does understand violence and brutality, and I applaud her skill
for depicting them in a very raw, nonchalant manner without gratuitous
editorial melodrama. I am familiar with the author's two previous novels set in
Venice during the 17th and 15th centuries respectively. Orla's Canvas is
very different from the point of view of setting and focus, but if you read
Sharnick's previous novels, you will see how she continues to capitalize on her
talent for depicting tragedy and the subsequent redemption using bold, precise
strokes.

Friday, December 11, 2015

A
few months ago I had the honor of interviewing Cynthia Ogren, the author of BeautifulMonsters. As a reviewer I am supposed to view the novel independently from
the person who wrote it, but I always like to know where the author is coming
from. Ogren's narrative is refreshingly raw and candid without being bitter or
judgmental. As a former insider who has worked in the entertainment industry
and survived, she does not have a vendeta against Hollywood as some authors
would. I know that it can be very tempting to "expose" the underbelly
of a very unforgiving industry that has scarred and discarded many. The
underlying message is that some individuals want to be scarred, and they
will continue sticking their fingers into proverbial outlets, because the side
effect of pain is sick masochistic pleasure. Ogren's female protagonist Riley
Rinaldi, an executive makeup artist who also flirts with acting and choreography,
is one of such individuals, or rather she has convinced herself of that. With a
long list of disasters on her romantic resume, she half-jokingly refers to
herself as Bloody Mary of Romance. That statement becomes a self-fulfilled
prophecy as she embarks on what she believes to be her last romantic journey
with tormented egocentric heartthrob Keller Cross. Both bring an impressive vintage collection of inner demons, and when those demons engange in a dance ... buckle your seats!

Film
is not just an escape for the moviegoers. It's an escape for those who are
involved in the production process, from the executives dubbed as Suits to the
actors and the crew. If you feel hostage to your past, to your secrets and
misdeeds, to an uncomfortable relationship, playing a role can indeed be an
escape. But there is another side to it - that quest for liberation can lead
you into an even deeper, darker trap. If you work on a set for 20 hours, the
line between reality and fantasy starts to blur. You can longer tell where the
actor ends and the character begins. Makeup and prosthetics become a part of
your body. You have to have a really resilient psyche to be able to maintain
your sense of reality and your place in that reality. It's the price people pay
for creating movies.

MJN: In your biographical blurb you mention that your life
has been filled with intense emotional experiences. Do you feel it's important
for an author to have a colorful emotional past to write convincing
multi-dimensional characters? They say, write what you know? Or is it enough to
have a vivid imagination?

NMC: In my opinion I feel that
yes, it would be beneficial for one to write from intense emotional experiences
but I think that might also make it one-sided. I think it is more important
for one to feel deeply, which is what you have said being from a colorful
emotional past. I'm sure it helps if one were to have intense emotional
experience as well, of course. But to bring a reader in, make them feel it deep
inside, the writer must feel what his characters are feeling, be able to live
the experiences of what is happening in the story, each angle of it, even if
only from a vivid imagination and a fictional standpoint. That is what makes
writing exhausting and draining, make it seem as if we're opening a vein and
pouring everything within onto the blank page. Without it, the story is flat
and lifeless. When I was writing STRANGER, my first release, I was completely
inside myself and living in those lines and words. So many readers have said it
felt like what was happening in the story was happening to them, they were inside
the story. That was the greatest compliment.

MJN: You mention that you are in love with all your
characters. I imagine, many of them are based on real life individuals. As a
writer, I know I am guilty of writing alternative endings in literature to
relationships that did not pan out a certain way in real life. Have you ever
had anyone from the real world approach you and say, "Hey, I recognize
that plot twist!"

NMC: *smiling* Yes, many of the characters in my stories are
based on real people. None have said they recognize the plot twist though. What
they have said, or rather asked is for me to write their fictional happy ever
after. Another thing they're taken with is seeing how they are perceived
through someone else's eyes, their traits, mannerisms, what makes them special,
their beauty from within, and without. They are amazed, their words being,
"That's me? That's how I'm seen?" It's a beautiful and humbling experience
and I feel so lucky to be able to give them that gift.

In my latest release, THE ROOSTER CLUB, THE BEST COCKS IN
TOWN all of the men are based on a real group of men who actually did call
themselves this. Most every single situation I've written actually happened,
from the sex to the drug deals in some way or another. But a lot of us who grew
up during this era lived amongst these scenarios, whether it was us, someone we
knew, or someone they knew. This lifestyle was rampant, and still is in many
ways. We've stopped calling the places discos, they're clubs now, there's still
a drug of choice, and addiction has been expanded to include technological. All
of the main players in the story are alive in some way, shape, or form now and
we all know them.

MJN: I noticed that there is a slick, almost Spartan vibe to
your covers. The titles are terse one-worders, and the color scheme is very
minimal. Stranger. Kink. I do believe that sometimes less is more. An abstract
cover can be more intriguing and suggestive than a close-up of a sixpack or a
fake rack.

NMC: The vibe of the stories made me want to keep the covers
crisp and minimalistic with that element of intrigue. I believe it's because
the theme of the stories are all zeroed in on something, pin pointed to a
specific concept that's masked in sensuality and mystery. Although my stories
are romantic in feel, they are contemporary, and it's definitely more about the
story rather than just the six pack on the cover. It's about feeling, pulling
you in, getting you lost, it's about the mind, the heart, the body, and the
soul. My last two books touched on very sensitive topics. KINK had cutting and
rape. In THE ROOSTER CLUB, THE BEST COCKS IN TOWN the story was built around
addiction. My upcoming release PERFECT is based also on addiction but a
different kind.

MJN: You have two talented beautiful daughters. As a mom, do
you ever cringe at the idea of your children having experiences like the ones
you describe in your books?

NMC: Every. Single. Day. We live in a very beautiful but also
a very dangerous world. It's hard to know who you can trust and who you can't.
Society has made the unacceptable and forbidden now common place and
acceptable. It's a daily battle I fight reminding them the difference of right
and wrong, what's acceptable and what's unacceptable and trying to keep them
from growing up too fast.

As far as them being women, it's a fine line I teeter on
when trying to keep them loving themselves, (God knows the media throws enough
at them for that). Because I write primarily erotica, I don't want to make
their sexuality something taboo. Rather, it is something that should be
embraced. The fight is making sure they know it should be with the special
one. Promiscuity can be dangerous. With songs playing on the radio belting
out lyrics saying, "I want you to eat my booty like groceries," wtf,
come on!, I cringe. Yeah, please do, but love, respect, and appreciation should
be first and foremost.

My primary objective is to teach my children about these
things: love, honor, respect, and appreciation. First, to yourself, then to
everyone and everything around you. If I can do that successfully, then I will
have done my job as their parent.

MJN: Your other area of expertise is fashion design. How do
the two passions complement each other? Do you believe that your fine motor
skills enhance your prose, make it more ... tactile and appealing to the
senses?

NMC: I have never thought about a relation between motor
skills and writing. Obviously there is as one must have command of one's motor
skills in order to do the act of writing. Where I do see, and feel, the
relationship is the concept of creating. All art comes from the heart and soul.
In my minds eye, when one creates I see it as a living being, it's own entity,
being born from inside the individual. It's its own life force, we as writers
and artists are only the catalyst by which it comes to life. And you hear so
many writers say they have voices/their characters talking in their heads
demanding to come out, insisting on being born.

When I finish a story, and to me it's never finished, I'm
exhausted, my brain is fried but I feel exuberant.

Yes, I do love my all of my characters <3

Thank you again so much for chatting with me. Join me on
Facebook and at my blog.

Friday, December 4, 2015

I'm totally stoked to spotlight an award-winning horror and speculative fiction writer Matthew Harrill, author of a ARC Chronicles. The content is as fierce as the covers.
________________________

MJN: You
cite H. P. Lovecraft as one of your inspirations, which is not surprising for a
horror writer. Everyone borrows something different from Lovecraft, whether it
be narrative style, point of view or the way he tackled certain archetypal
fears. Which element of his craft did you incorporate into your own works?

MH: Initially
the intention was to create a modern day homage to Lovecraft, a very modern
gothic horror if you will. There is a feeling I get when reading Lovecraft. It
is in a strange way very comforting as if intruding upon another’s dream. I
think that is what I have drawn on most from HPL – allowing people to see the
vision in my head, described as well as I can make it (though there is always
room for improvement). Other than that feeling, while my intention was to be
very specific with Lovecraft in mind, my story very quickly found a voice of
its own and moved in a different direction.

MJN: The
covers on your ARC chronicles are very vivid, stylized and uniform - gorgeous
and professional. The color scheme is red, yellow and black. Those are pretty
traditional colors one would associate with hell. Have you read any books on
demonology?

MH: No
books specifically. Yet there is a lot of information on the internet because
nowadays, everybody has a voice and a website. I purposefully chose demon names
to use that aren’t necessarily the most obvious. Everybody has their own take
on Lucifer, or Satan, but not everybody has much of an idea about say Rosier,
or Iuvart. Finding demonic names with lesser descriptions also allows me more
creativity since they are less ingrained in to popular culture and I can
therefore influence the perception.

MJN: In Hellbounce, the
protagonist Dr. Eva Ross is a prison psychologist. In my experience, people
don't become psychologists on a whim. There must be something in their past -
or even past life, if you believe in such things - that seeks them to
understand the human soul at a higher level. And yet, psychology is a very
regulated and institutionalized field full of bureaucracy. Paperwork and
protocol gets in the way of the exploration.

MH: True,
but I have a degree in geology and I implement stock options and shareplans for
multinational clients. Sometimes your life is planned out, it seems, and
sometimes you just fall into a career. Eva could just as easily been a janitor
in a prison hospital, but it doesn’t read as well in the blurb : )

MJN: Your
ARC Chronicle is a trilogy. It's actually a challenge to write a trilogy and
not make the second book come across as the proverbial "middle
child". Sometimes, writing a sequel is more challenging than writing the
first book in the series. Did you encounter any specific challenges while
writing Hellborne?

MH: Initially
Hellbornewas just a vehicle to drive
the plot to Hellbeast, the novel I
really wanted to write. But being an uber-plotter, it didn’t take me long to
work out a story of its own. I realised I couldn’t just trek my way around
America, and since my characters ended the first book in a different country, I
chose to take the story on from there. I find the research for books to be
quite a revelation, pulling detail on the most amazing of places as I work on
my notes. If anybody told me back in 2011 that within a year I would be
researching an island in the Baltic that stands only feet above sea level and
supports an active population, or that I would be researching ways to break and
shut down the Large Hadron Collider (particle accelerator) at CERN on the
Franco-Swiss border, I’d not have believed them for a second. Probably the
biggest challenge was that as a new writer, the release for Hellborne was quite
underwhelming. Courtesy of a chaotic publisher.

MJN: You are
an Amazon bestselling author, so I congratulate you on your success. Do you
believe that winning an award was instrumental to generating more sales, or
would you say that both your popularity and your acclaim are direct result of
the quality of your work?

MH: I
think the work speaks for itself. I have never asked anybody to be any less
than honest when reviewing my books, and it’s worked out pretty well so far.
The awards were really a stake in the ground, something done by my mentor David
Farland, to see where I was and if my work was comparable to that of my peers.
I ranked well in every competition I entered. OK I didn’t win, but it’s
encouraging to see your name up there. Most of my sales have come from
interaction with people on social media. One day I would like to be able to say
my reputation precedes me, but if I have to take on the literary world one
reader at a time, then so be it.

Tuesday, December 1, 2015

Greetings, commies!
On occasion I get permission from my fellow bloggers to repost one of their reviews. Today is one of those days. Say hello to M.L. Eaton, writer of mystery thrillers with a supernatural twist. Her novel The Elephants' Child was reviewed in Before the Second Sleep blog.
______________________

One of the first things I noticed about M.L. Eaton’s The Elephants’
Child when I initially received it, was its modest volume. This didn’t take
away from what I expected it might be, but the contrast between its size and
the story power packed inside becomes a delightful discovery.

Set in post-Partition India, The Elephants’ Child is mostly
six-year-old Melanie’s story, though told in omniscient third person with brief
forays into others’ perceptions. This works well because readers are able to
get a grip on what is happening in the “adult world” while remaining anchored
in Melanie’s. At times Eaton chooses to blend the two beautifully, capturing a
resulting understanding of where the young girl acquires some of her own
thought patterns, but with her own will intact.

“Now Lakshmi was there,
insisting on holding her hands to make sure she was safe: which was mostly nice
but often a bit of a nuisance because Melanie wanted to run and play hide and
seek in the gardens and not walk properly like a little lady.”

Melanie and her family shift from Karachi to Bombay (present-day Mumbai)
when her father assumes a new position in a civil engineering project. The
little girl has had to say goodbye more times than she cares to remember,
including initially from her native England, and has a difficult time
adjusting. Moreover, she tries to reconcile grown-up behavior—“Adults were such
peculiar things: they pretended nearly all the time”—with their words,
an endeavor she finds utterly confounding. A poised and intelligent girl,
however, she draws her own conclusions, including when to trust they were
indeed telling the truth, evoking her very early childhood when her father
introduced her to the peculiar elephants and promised they were real.

With a natural affinity for animals, Melanie develops particular fondness
for the huge, grey creatures at the Hanging Gardens, where her new ayah
takes her. Over some time her patience and the elephant mother’s trust develop
and the bond between creatures and human solidifies. Melanie experiences an
awakening, with an attending greater happiness, as well as a unity in spirit
with the elephants.

This coincides with the illness and scheduled surgery of Elizabeth,
Melanie’s mother, and the young girl’s fears for her mother play out in dreams
of elephants and their deaths. She herself experiences a setback and her ayah,
Lakshmi, immerses her more deeply into the culture by teaching her about the
elephant-headed god, Ganesha, who removes obstacles, including those within.
She instructs her in the mantra, Om Gum Ganapatayei Namaha, an appeal to
the god, though later worries what the memsahib will think of this.

Through the book Eaton weaves a theme of unity, her skill often apparent
given the seeming opposites she is joining together: humans and animals,
sadness and joy, a child in an adult world, the meeting of mono- and
polytheistic cultures. It is even more telling of her talent that she
accomplishes the feat without any person or creature having to compromise who
they are.

Another technique that stands out to great effect is Eaton’s ability to
utilize descriptive language in a way that awakens readers’ senses as she lays
out any given scene. Perhaps the best example is one that introduces Melanie
herself to her new home via the Gateway to India:

“Ahead of them stretched
a magnificent panorama. The sapphire sea filled the wide deep bay of the
natural harbour, framed by the lush green of the mountains on the mainland. The
harbour itself was studded with islands, like precious stones of emerald and
jasper in a sea of liquid lapis lazuli, a shimmering deep blue flecked with
gold and dotted with white diamonds—the sails of innumerable small craft
skipping across the sea’s sparkling surface.”

In just over 100 pages, Eaton composes a small treasure of words, woven into
a portrait taking us back to a time when, indeed, all was not perfectly wed,
but where the willing could find some unity in their surroundings and take with
them remembered pieces of a land that, because it in part grew them, becomes
part of their soul. This is the case for Melanie, despite her struggles as laid
out so poignantly by the author.

It is also the sort of book that beckons for a re-read and, I suspect, will
reveal an additional something every time. Each discovery of the memoir
contained within will glisten in readers’ own memories as they reach for the
stories, not unlike digging into Mary Poppins’s small but deeply-packed bag of
rich treasures brought out to enchant and unify purpose, being and wonder.
Presented with simplicity, but certainly not simple, no matter readers’ ages,
genre preferences or unfamiliarity with the content, it is a precious and
timeless keepsake for any bookshelf.

Friday, November 20, 2015

Greetings, commies!Meet a fellow Celtic spirit, Pat McDermott, author of romantic adventure novels set in historical - and alternative - Ireland. You know by know that Irish history is my passion. And often catch myself wondering: what if the Fenian uprising of 1867 succeeded? How would that affect the subsequent course of history?

MJN: You come from Boston where there is a considerable Irish
population. Some are farther removed from the Emerald Isle than others. You get
a mixture of authentic-snobby-academic Irish culture and the Disnefied Blarney
kitsch. How do you respond to verbalizations of Irish stereotypes? Some authors
capitalize on the Blarney element, while others have a very strong adverse
reaction to it. I'm asking because I also write Irish themed fiction, and the
organizer of one of the author events started playing "When Irish Eyes are
Smiling" as an expression of hospitality. I nearly fainted. God bless the
gentleman, but my cheeks were crimson.

PM: No green beer or Lucky Charms for me, thank you. I grew
up on Mission Hill, a mostly Irish and Irish/American neighborhood back in the
day. I never met anyone who said “Top o’ the morning” etc., though I’ve met
plenty of Irish folks who are characters in their own right. No need to add any
Blarney whatsoever.

MJN:Band of Roses has an unusual setting. If I understand
the intent correctly, it's retro-speculative? Modern Ireland that *might have
been*. For those who are not familiar with the intricacies of the sub-genre,
what is the difference between paranormal, speculative, steampunk and
revisionist fiction?

PM: I know very little about steampunk. Paranormal is, of
course, the addition of ghosts, magic, or, in the case of my young adult Glimmer
series, Ireland’s fairies, the “Good People.” Except for The Rosewood
Whistle, my stories are alternate/alternative history, a sub-genre of
science fiction that includes speculative and revisionist fiction. The term
simply means that the world would be a different place if a key event in
history changed. If Germany had won World War II, for example, or if Rome still
ruled Europe. In 1066, Irish High King Brian Boru perished at the end of the
famous Battle of Clontarf. Many historians have said that Ireland would be a
different place today if he had survived. Hence, A Band of Roses.

MJN: The covers for your Band of Roses trilogy share a similar layout but a
different background image. I am particularly intrigued by the cover on the
first novel, featuring a castle and a helicopter, with Celtic ornaments in the
foreground.

PM: I worked with the cover artist to meld a sense of Irish
history with the implication of modern times the helicopter provides.
Hopefully, it works.

MJN: Most people have heard the name of Brian Boru. Are there
any obscure mythological figures that you would like to bring to light?

PM: Each of the Glimmer Books features a different branch of
Ireland’s fairy clans. Finvarra, King of the Connaught Fairies, plays a major role
in the first book. An ancient, dragon-like monster called the Peiste
worries a troop of water fairies in the second book. Book three deals with some
of my favorite mythological features of all time: the Leprechauns. At the
moment, no one in the mythological cast of characters is nagging me for a
leading role, but that doesn't mean it won't happen.

MJN: Your Rosewood Whistleis a stand-alone novel, a
contemporary romance featuring older partners, both burdened with ghosts from
the past. Your age does not always correlate to the amount of proverbial
"baggage" you are carrying. I've met 13-year old girls who have
"old souls" and claim that they've "been around". And then
I've met 70-year old women who have divorced and buried a few husbands, and
still feel young at heart. In your novel, the heartthrob, Ben Connigan, is in a
delicate situation. His wife died in an accident, yet she was not particularly
nurturing or supportive. In fact, she was quite condescending and downright
toxic. And yet I've heard that it's the toxic late spouses who often hold more
power the survivors after their death. How do you explain that phenomenon?

PM: I’m not a psychologist, but I suppose it stems from the
idea that no one can hold power over you without your permission. In Ben’s
case, he was a young man in love, blind to his wife’s frivolities. Over time,
he learned that he deserved better. We all do, don’t we?

My latest novel

About Me

A Chernobyl girl rockin' New England. Glowing personality. Nuclear ego. Explosive libido. Toxic sense of humor. Welcome to my customized gas chamber, comrades! Born in the former USSR, I am still regarded as a dirty commie by my American pals. Sometimes it's easier to just play along than to try to dissuade people. I'm proud to have retained the worst of both worlds. When I'm not working 60-hours a week, writing or cleaning the cat box, I'm busy pleasuring my gorgeous Irish-Ukrainian husband and tiger-mothering our only son. Need tips on detachment parenting? You're in the right place!

Book reviews

The purpose of this blog is to nurture diplomatic cross-ethnic dialogue and appreciation for certain cultures that are underrepresented or misrepresented in the mainstream media. As a historical novelist, I am keenly aware of the importance of support from my peers and my readers. I am always happy to help fellow writers promote their works. If you would like your book reviewed or spotlighted, please contact me via Facebook or send an e-mail to marina.neary (at) gmail.com.